Kes konnections summer 2017

From The Head We have had the usual mixed weather as spring has moved to early summer. However, most school activities have continued as planned with some excellent weather for the Second Year camps on Dartmoor.

As I write, our students are emerging from examinations and, as the end of term approaches, youthful exuberance has erupted with the Arts Festival filling the School with African drumming, Zorb football, live bands, art, chamber music, dance and even some magic. The science musical, ‘Welcome to Gedanken’ followed at the Theatre Royal in Winchester and there is stil Sports Day, the Endeavour programme and the Swimming Gala to pack in before the summer holidays.

Tragically, as all in the School are fully aware, one of our Fifth Year students, Ben Smith, died while on a run at home just before half-term.

Ben was a delightful young man, an accomplished rugby player, musician and actor with many friends. His memorial service was attended by over 600 from the KES, Stroud, Trojans and Stagecoach communities. A tree has been planted in the School grounds in his memory and two scholarships (one in drama and one in sport) will be established in his name.

We are busy finishing the new Theatre and Art Department together with an expanded Sixth Form Concourse to replace the old Dobson Theatre. The Art Department has been completed and we enjoyed using the linked new Atrium for the annual art exhibition. There remains much to do before the principal building opens in September but it will be ready for the new-style evening prize giving event on Friday 15th September.

The number of trips that take place remains a very impressive part of the School’s provision with record numbers involved. Over a third of the School were involved in these activities over the spring holiday and many of these are reported in this issue including a very successful ski trip to France, a classics visit to Rome and Naples, a creative arts trip to New York, a geography field trip to Iceland, an expedition to Morocco, exchange and language visits to Prague, Montpellier, Andalucía and Catalonia and various Duke of Edinburgh expeditions in the New Forest and Dartmoor. Our charity work remains very active with significant numbers involved in the Summer Camp for young carers in the New Forest and our annual participation in the Goedgedacht Project outside Cape Town. Other visits over the summer include

an expedition to Costa Rica and Nicaragua, a hockey tour to South Africa, a pre-season rugby tour in Ireland and the water sports trip in southern France.

This has been a very active term but also a rather nostalgic one as we say thank you to our retiring Chairman of Governors, Mr Gay. He has guided the School through a period of momentous change over the past sixteen years with the acquisition of our base on Dartmoor at Lovaton, the Wellington Sports Ground and Stroud School, as well as the reconstruction of many of the facilities on the principal site including those for design and technology, science, music and sport, in addition to a comprehensive refurbishment of all of our teaching areas. We thank him for his immense contribution to his old school and welcome Mr Morgan as our new Chairman.

This term also sees the retirement of Mr Hunt and Mr Kukla after a combined 50 years of service to the School. Mr Hardwick is also retiring and Mrs Platten, Mr Halls, Dr Evans, Mr Fernandez, Miss Porter and Mrs Tucker are moving to positions elsewhere. We wish them all well and thank them for all that they have done for the School.

A J Thould Head

King Edward VI School Wilton Road . Southampton . Hampshire SO15 5UQ Telephone: 023 8070 4561

www.kes.hants.sch.uk

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New Chairman of Governors Mr Morgan is a Chartered Accountant living in Winchester and a former KES parent. He spent most of his career as a Tax Consultant working for Deloitte in Southampton, latterly as head of the office. He is married with two sons aged 26 and 21, both of whom were pupils at KES. He has been a Governor and Chair of our Finance Committee since 2008, and he has worked closely with the Head and the Bursar throughout that period, notably in the acquisition and subsequent development of Stroud, and more recently in the redevelopment of our theatre at Hill Lane.

He has been a keen sportsman and is now a very active rugby supporter. In the last few years he has followed the Welsh rugby team as far afield as South Africa, New Zealand and the South Sea Islands. Until recently he was also the manager of the very successful Hampshire under 20s rugby squad, where he has supported a number of former KES students as they continue their rugby career.

He is also a participating member of the Winchester Musicals and Opera Society and can often be seen singing with the KES Adult Choir.

Mr Morgan is very aware of the outstanding legacy he is inheriting from Mr Gay. He says, “It is a huge honour to be elected as the Chairman of Governors, and I am looking forward to working with the Head and Senior Management Team to address the challenges of the next few years as the country prepares itself for life after Brexit.

The demands of the work-place are also changing rapidly with the added importance of technology and social media and it is critical that we are ready and able to respond to these new challenges over the next few years. I am very fortunate that the schools are in such excellent shape after Mr Gay’s sixteen year tenure as Chairman. I would like to pay tribute to his outstanding leadership throughout that period. He is truly a tough act to follow and I am delighted that he has agreed to stay on as a Governor to ensure a smooth transition. I am fully committed to working with the Governors and Senior Management Teams of both schools to ensure an environment which will continue to produce students who are academically successful, but also well rounded young men and women who have the skills and experience to embark on the next stage of their career with confidence. This has been the trademark of the schools for many years and long may it continue.”

Academic Olympiad Results Students have been taking part in subject specific Olympiad competitions this term with some good results.

In the UK Linguistics Olympiads there were several awards. At Intermediate level, Marrium Chughtai, Iolanta Spanner, Isobel Searles and Sophie Ridley received Bronze awards whilst at Advanced level, Eleanor MacLeod received a Bronze award and David Veres received a Silver award.

In the British Physics Olympiad challenge, Bronze certificates were awarded to Daniel Cheung, Sam Cooper, Sophie Holliday and Alex Liu and Silver went to Patrick Lotery and Tom Mitchell. Kelvin Xie, Chris Lotery and Colin McCann all received a Gold certificate.

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Thanksgiving This year the annual King Edward’s Thanksgiving event took on a slightly different format. The First Years travelled to St Nicholas’ Church in Stoneham Lane, next to Wellington Sports Ground, where they participated in a Service conducted by the Rev Sheena Williams in the presence of the Head Master. The remainder of the School community gave thanks for the School’s founders and benefactors in the Main Hall and welcomed The Ven Dr Peter Rouch, Archdeacon of Bournemouth, who gave a dynamic and inspirational address about love being the guiding principle for our lives.

KES pupils visit local Mosque As part of their Religious Studies programme, First Year pupils visited the Medina Mosque in Southampton this term. Here they were able to learn from the Iman first-hand about Muslim customs, traditions and Islamic religious practices and beliefs. Both the Iman and KES believe that such co-operative learning is of high importance, particularly at a time when Islam is poorly understood.

Biology is a Challenge!

This year, twenty KES students took part in the UK Biology Challenge achieving four Bronze, two Silver and seven Gold awards.

Congratulations to Will Atherton, Will Barker, Ottilie Beal, Gus Berry, Adam Brodzki, Yuqing Chen, Charlie Griffiths, Joseph Linehan, Sarah MacLeod, Kira Morton, Charis Saer, Timothy Ward and Cherida Zhang.

Sarah MacLeod also achieved the highest in school award.

Maths = Success Thirty-five pupils from the First and Second Year entered this year’s Junior Maths Challenge gaining an impressive fourteen Gold Certificates, nine Silver and four Bronze. Theeran Ramanan and Barnaby Saer both scored very highly and have been invited to sit the Junior Olympiad paper in June. Samuel McIlroy, Catherine Shore, Daniel Houston-Robb, Abigail McCarthy, Tasmiah Safat-e-Jannat, James Jellett and Anna Aksenova have all qualified for the Junior Kangaroo follow-on competition.

Six KES pupils also entered the Hampshire Schools’ Maths Challenge hosted by the University of Southampton with four of them receiving recognition. Sharanya Kunjur was awarded overall 3rd prize whilst Joshua Lam and Daniel Erwig received certificates of Distinction and Jeremy Hill received a certificate of Merit.

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Co-curricular Rome and Naples At Easter, forty-three pupils and five staff went to Rome and the Bay of Naples. In Rome there were trips to see the Colosseum, the Pantheon and the Roman forum whilst in Naples the group went to the top of Mount Vesuvius and saw the amazing sites of Pompeii and Herculaneum. A good time was had by all, helped by a large amount of high quality pizza and ice-cream.

Second Year Camp This term the Second Years enjoyed their annual camp at Lovaton, Dartmoor. Students spent one of two weekends camping or staying in the School’s Rural Study Centre, whilst taking part in climbing and team building exercises, constructing and racing rafts on the river, learning how to cook on trangias, orienteering and generally enjoying the great outdoors.

Bienvenue Ă KES In May, KES Third and Fourth Year French students welcomed a group of forty pupils from Sherborne House and helped them to practise their spoken French. After a quick introduction to the theme of shopping, pupils had a go at buying the correct food for an imaginary picnic. They had to ask for the required item and work out the correct amount that they had to pay. Everyone had a good time and French was spoken by all!

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Catalonia trip During the half-term holiday, forty-five First and Second year students spent five days in the Catalonia region of Spain. They visited popular sites such as Parc Güell and Camp Nou in Barcelona, the Dalí Museum in Figueres and the beautiful city of Girona.

A lot of time was spent at the beach, in the pool and shopping as well! The students were able to taste some typical tapas whilst overlooking the sea, during what was a most enjoyable few days!

KES welcomes back evacuees During the war years, pupils from King Edward’s were evacuated to Poole Grammar School to continue their education in a safer environment. In June, a group of these former pupils met for their 19th reunion lunch enjoying their time together to reminisce about their school days.

Cactus Club visit RHS Wisley The focus for this term’s Cactus Club trip to RHS Wisley was cacti and plant adaptations. With the help of Kyle McHale, the Education Officer, and Greg Ovendon, the glasshouse expert, the group investigated arid plant adaptations, studied the superb section of varying ferns in the temperate zone and headed off to the alpine houses to develop their understanding of high altitude plants from hot and dry regions along with cold regions from around the world; a fascinating day for the fourteen strong group.

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Ski Trip In April, thirty-four students and six staff participated in the annual school ski trip. At the start of the week, the weather was mixed but during the last two days the group skied in glorious sunshine. The level of instruction was excellent and the students remained focused in their lessons, making very good progress. At the end of the week Ned Clarke received the highest ski award amongst the party; he was also the only member of the party to land a 360 whilst out with the instructor. The highlight of the evening entertainment was a visit to the bowling alley, closely followed by the game of Jenga (staff v student).

Geographers visit Iceland Eighteen geography students travelled to Iceland over the Easter holidays to discover the incredible geology and geography on offer in this amazing country. Iceland is well known for its changing weather and the group certainly experienced this; snow, torrential rain and sunshine all in the space of a few days!

Bathing in the Blue Lagoon was most definitely a highlight as the group used the silica mud on the bottom of the lagoon to cleanse their skin. They also visited numerous waterfalls and Strokkur geysir mesmerised everyone as it sprayed boiling hot water up to thirty-five metres into the air every five minutes.

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Prague Exchange At Easter, a group of five girls travelled to Pribram, near Prague in the Czech Republic, to take part in the second leg of the Prague Exchange. Their exchange partners had already been hosted by KES families in September. Whilst there, the girls visited the capital and saw all the highlights including Prague Castle and the Astronomical Clock.

Easter was a wonderful time to visit as there were crafts and markets aplenty. The group also helped with running a sports event for a local school for children with special needs.

Annual Cactus Competition There were twenty-five entries in this year’s annual cactus competition. Mrs Wood and President of The Cactus Club, James Mitchell, administered proceedings with style and the winners this year were Ankit Nambiar (solo category), Lucy Giles (group category), Zak Crane-Whatmore (succulent category), James Mitchell (seed category), Tilly Abraham (cactometer – new category for 2017) and Mrs Mitchell (lifetime achievement).

School Chess Championship Congratulations to Joshua Lam who won this year’s KES School Chess Championship. He has also progressed to the next round of the national competition.

Creative Arts trip to NYC The Creative Arts trip to New York took place in the first week of April. In five days, of seemingly non-stop activity, students soaked up the cultural richness and diversity of this iconic city.

Bounding from one end of Manhattan to the other, they took in everything from opera at the MET to late-night diners off Times Square, picnics in Central Park to ‘Miss Saigon’ on Broadway, gems of twentieth-century art at MoMA to midnight city views from the Empire State building. Between countless other highlights, including a very special violin recital at Carnegie Hall, a dance class at the Broadway Dance Studio and an evening at a Jazz club, students used their free time to explore the streets and cafes in midtown Manhattan.

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Córdoba 2017 On 31st March, seventeen Third and Fourth year students travelled to Córdoba, Spain, to spend five days of glorious sunshine experiencing Spanish life firsthand. The students stayed with host families and attended three hours of Spanish lessons every morning. The afternoons were spent sightseeing, sampling tapas, churros and ice cream and dancing Flamenco. On the Sunday they enjoyed a visit to the beautiful city of Sevilla. Everyone had a fabulous time and greatly improved their Spanish skills.

Exploring Morocco Twenty-six Third and Fourth year students enjoyed a fabulous week taking in the sights and culture of Morocco during the Easter holidays. They visited several UNESCO world heritages sites, including the fishing port of Essaouira and the ancient village of Aït Benadhou, the setting for the film, Gladiator. As well as consuming copious amounts of tagine, students also drunk local Berber tea and learnt about Moroccan history and religion. The main highlight for many was the chance to travel into the Sahara Desert by camel and the trip concluded with a visit to Marrakesh.

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Montpellier au printemps!

A group of Upper and Lower Sixth students travelled to lively bustling Montpellier in the South of France during the Easter Holidays. They spent the mornings perfecting their French in lessons led by native speakers and the afternoons discovering the local area and culture. Trips to Avignon and the Pont du Gard, sessions of pétanque, the tasting and preparation of local specialities, trips to the beach and evenings at local restaurants all helped to make the trip thoroughly enjoyable. C’était magnifique!

Triathlonathon Members of the Summer Camp team organised a sponsored triathlonathon earlier this term to raise money for this year’s Summer Camp. A substantial amount was raised from the event that involved members of the school community rowing, running and riding continuously for twelve hours. 562 kilometres were covered during the day.

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Matthew Bourne workshop On 22nd March, Matthew Bourne’s ‘New Adventures’ company came to KES to deliver an exciting and dynamic workshop based on their brand new, critically acclaimed ballet ‘The Red Shoes’. A number of Lower School dancers took part with the opportunity to learn some repertoire from the show and work on some themes of storytelling through tableaux and movement. The dancers were given a fantastic insight into Matthew Bourne’s choreographic style and, in the evening, dancers from across all years visited The Mayflower Theatre to see the company in action.

Scamp Club’s literary quest This year, the Scamp Club’s literary quest took them to Lovaton on Dartmoor.

‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’ and Malcolm Saville’s classic, ‘Saucers over the Moor’ served as ‘maps’ which led them to their three key locations: Nun’s Cross Farm, the home of the villain of the piece, Grimspound where Sherlock Holmes made his base and Whiteworks where the source of the saucers over the moor was rumoured to be.

Celebrating WE Day Fourteen Sixth Formers attended the WE Day in Wembley Arena this year. WE is a movement that brings people together and gives them the tools to change the world, inspiring millions of passionate young people, women and men to work together to shift the world from “me” to “we”.

The KES students listened to presentations from charity workers and inspirational speakers such as Kate Winslet and Paula Abdul and Jessie J, Conor Maynard and The Vamps also performed.

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Creative Arts Music Department receives ISM award

At the end of June, the new sciency musical ‘Welcome to Gedanken’ was performed by members of the School at the Theatre Royal in Winchester. The show, a farce with songs and science and set in the fictional country of Gedanken, involved around fifty pupils and staff. The cast performed to delighted audiences on both nights in a very successful and humorous production.

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The Music Department is celebrating being awarded the ISM’s (Incorporated Society of Musicians) Silver certificate in music in 2017. It was awarded for the excellent results in the GCSE music examinations last year. More than 15% of the Fifth Year cohort at KES achieved an A*-C in GCSE music. The data highlights the reach of music within the School and whilst the ISM award was for schools with A*- C grades the whole KES Music cohort produced 100% A*/A grades for the second year running.

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Arts Festival The Arts Festival ran for three sunny days in June with a kaleidoscope of performances, exhibitions, workshops, lectures and concerts providing an exciting, vibrant and stimulating three days to challenge and inspire. Sixty-two visiting artists came to the School to work with the pupils and in total over 820 workshop places were filled by KES students and a further 180 by prep and partnership school primary children. The event was rounded off in style with a wonderful street theatre, festival picnic and firework display.

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Sport KES wins Hampshire League

Bronze medal in badminton

Congratulations to the KES 1st XI football team who earned a hard-fought victory in the Hampshire Colleges League Cup at the end of last term when they beat Fareham College (5-2) to take the county cup title.

Tom Smart and Sam Woodcock scored two goals each with Fareham also scoring an own goal.

Michael Pang recently competed at the English National Junior Badminton Championships in the U13 age group.

Michael won a Silver medal in the boys’ singles event and a Bronze medal in the boys’ doubles.

KES athletes take home medals KES athletes have been particularly successful over the past months. First Year pupil, Billy Goodridge, competed in the County Track and Field Championships, winning the high jump, with a new championship record, and also the 75m hurdle event. His performances place him in the national top 10. Sixth Form athlete, Sophie Ridley, has also been successful in the County Athletics Championships winning the Gold medal in the U20 women’s 100m hurdles.

KES players are national champions Five KES U14 hockey players competed in the National Clubs U14 Hockey Championships playing for Winchester Hockey Club in May. They played really well all day and beat Surbiton Hockey Club 2-0 in the final to become national champions.

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Pentathlon George Budden has been successful in gaining a place on the Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme for Modern Pentathlon. He is currently ranked 3rd in the UK at U19 level and has a busy year of European and UK championships ahead of him.

First Year athletics The First Years have been busy with athletics events this term. Teams took part in the County Track Knock-out Competition with the working hard to finish in 4th place but the boys doing even better to finish in equal 1st with Wildern School and progressing to the next round.

The third annual First Year Inter Form Athletics Competition also took place at Southampton Sports Centre. With each form member competing in at least one event, the afternoon was a busy one and resulted in a close run contest, with two forms neck and neck throughout. The eventual winners, by just 6 points, were 1/5.

KES fields girls’ cricket team In June, KES fielded an U13 girls’ cricket team for the very first time. The girls competed in a festival hosted by Salisbury Cathedral School and had both an enjoyable and successful day. Scoring a 6 off the final ball of the first match to tie with Stroud was a great start to the day, and wins followed over Forres Sandle Manor and Salisbury Cathedral School. Although the squad lost to both Chafyn Grove teams they were very pleased to have come joint 3rd with Stroud and are looking forward to having more opportunities to play cricket for the School in the future.

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KES sailing Sailing at KES continues to be popular.

The 2017 season got underway at SWAC with pupils taking advantage of the nice weather. Stroud and KES pupils sail regularly at the weekends.

U14s win rounders tournament The U14 rounders team competed in the South Coast Rounders Tournament hosted by PGS in June.

Throughout the day they impressed with their fielding as they bowled all their opposition out within the allotted number of balls. KES and PGS emerged as the two top teams with each losing only one match. However, when the total number of rounders scored throughout the day were counted, it was KES who finished as champions.

KES cricket

The KES cricket teams have had a successful season with the U13s and U14s reaching the semi-final matches and the 1st XI reaching the final of the Altham trophy, having beaten Peter Symonds, Itchen College and Richard Taunton’s College, securing a match at the Ageas Bowl ground.

The U12s reached the county cup final and batted first reaching a score of 210-4 from their 30 overs with Kamran Dhariwal scoring 92 not out, backed up by 34 from Alex Kipps and 32 from Hamish Croft. Although under pressure from PGS, KES battled hard and eventually bowled PGS out for 181 to win by 29 runs and become Hampshire Champions.

As a result of this they will represent Hampshire in the national U13 cup next year.

King Edward VI School Wilton Road . Southampton . Hampshire SO15 5UQ Telephone: 023 8070 4561 . www.kes.hants.sch.uk